Thursday, July 4, 2019

July Art Journaling


Happy 4th of July ~ Independence Day!

Other than the heat, which I don't like, I love July. This is my slow-down month of the year. The church I work at intentionally leaves the calendar very light in July and we, the staff, keep our projects limited as well. And lo and behold, I am already beginning to feel refreshed! 

The hubby and I are taking off tomorrow for a long weekend in Michigan. We are just going to meander. There are 33 Frank Lloyd Wright houses in the state, with 12 of them in a 60 mile radius in the Lansing/Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo area. So we have booked a little Airbnb apartment in a secluded area and we will do some driving tours of the houses, hit some flea markets, shops and parks along the way. We'll visit with some family, and on Sunday
 tour the Meyer May House in Grand Rapids. A leisurely weekend away.

It seems my creative juices have finally been refreshed this past week as well. I am finally feeling like ideas are coming into my mind more frequently and with some energy! Here is what I am working on and playing with in the month of July:

My M word for my word of the year and our Living Your Word A-Z challenge is "Make". I'm not a fan of the term, "find some time to...". If we want time to be creative or read or garden or whatever it is we want to do, we need to make the time. We need to be intentional about carving out time for rest and hobbies and self-care. Yes, there are seasons of life when this is more difficult, but overall it tends to come down to making choices with how we spend out time. And I am intentional about making sure I make time for the things that feed my soul and the things that refresh my heart and mind. So make is my word right now.



I'm participating in Elyssa Nalani's Scripture writing community called Club 119. We are working through Psalm 119, writing out the Scripture passages and adding creative elements. I'm enjoying digging into this familiar Psalm once again. I'm using a Fabriano notebook with grid paper for my journal.




(I ended up getting my s backwards! I decided to leave it be.)

First stanza, vs 1-8


Second stanza, vs 9-16

I'm also participating in a junk journaling challenge on Instagram called Junk Journal July. It has some great prompts for quick pages. You can check out #junkjournaljuly on Instagram.

Day 1 was to be an introduction but I simply did some collage.

Day 2: Make a collage

Day 3: Use a tag

Day 4: Very vintage




It feels great to have my creative energy flowing again and I'm looking forward to playing throughout the month of July. 



Join Our Inspirational Facebook Group: Living Your Word of the Year
Bernice Hopper, Valerie Sjodin and I facilitate a Facebook group about Living your Word of the Year. In it we share insights through blog posts and connect with other like-hearted and like-minded people who want to live out a word focus throughout the year. We offer participants a bi-weekly A-Z Inspiration to help prompt reflection and creativity. as well as other inspirational ways to connect with your word of the year. If you would like to connect with others in creative ways about living your word throughout the year, explore new ideas, record thoughts, prayers, and events, you are invited to join our Facebook group.

Please use #livingyourword2019 on social media.

Check out the other blogs:
Bernice: www.newlycreative.com
Valerie: 
www.valeriesjodin.com/blog

3 comments:

  1. So lovely to see all your different projects

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  2. These are all so wonderful, Mary, and you always inspire me and my creativity. I'm in a Wednesday women's Bible study that meets at Panera Bread each week and we're beginning a new study on the Names of God. We decided to open it this time to art and journaling. Your blog was perfect timing for me :). We have a workbook but nice to express ourselves apart from that. I always look forward to your blog and work. Thank you and glad to see you're having a wonderful summer!

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  3. Love your beautiful expressions of your anointed creative gifts! <3

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